and here's my paper !

Well .. since Adel and Samiah have posted two of their essays, I thought I might post one of mines too

The following is an article that I wrote for my university's MSA newsletter ..

Allah’s gift to Muslim women​

Alhumdu Lillah for giving us the right path of Islam and the ability to distinguish the right from the wrong. I ask Allah, then anyone else
who reads this, to forgive me for what I might say wrong. Brothers and sisters, Islam is not a hard or complicated religion. Allah, in Surat Al-Baqarah verse 185, says (in the meaning of the verse): “Allah intends for you ease, and He does not want to make things difficult for you.” So, we might sometimes think that Islam is a difficult religion because it requires us to do so much, but if we think about it, it completes our lives in every beautifully possible way

Islam in the Middle East is not different from Islam in the west, or it SHOULD NOT be. People say communities enforce their own rules on the way we dress or act. Yes they do, but do we have to follow them? Or should we follow Islam instead? I’m trying to say that the Quran in America is the same book in Yemen, for example, or any other country. Practicing Islam may be more difficult in one place than another, but Allah will greatly award those who face the most difficulties in practicing Islam. In this article, I will talk about the Muslim woman and her hijab in today’s society.1

One of the things Allah awarded the Muslim woman with is the hijab, with which a Muslim woman receives her honor, dignity, virtues and
utmost respect from her community. Thus, by receiving all this, it is in fact designed to complete her beauty. However, it seems like there is a big misconception of the meaning of hijab, so let’s define it. Hijab is the prevention or dividing point between two things, where one cannot see the other; and the emphasis here is on eye sight.1
In religion, hijab is meant to protect the Muslim woman from men’s eyes staring at her, for the purpose of preserving the woman’s beauty, purity, virtues and, most of all, her piety. Therefore, hijab is not just the scarf that a Muslim woman puts on her head; it's the clothing that a Muslim woman covers her whole body with. Islam has set precise instructions on how the Muslim woman’s hijab should or should not be, of which some are listed below:1

Hijab should cover not only the woman’s hair but all body parts. Allah says in Surat Al-Ahzab, verse 59, (in the meaning of the verse) “O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters, and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks, veils, (jilbab) all over
their bodies. That is more likely that they may be recognized (as free respectable women) and not annoyed. And Allah is Most Forgiving, Merciful.” The word jilbab is mentioned in the verse, and it is interpreted as the long dress that drops down to feet level.1
2- In Surat Al-Noor, verse 31, Allah says “Tell
the believing women not to show off their adornment except that which cannot be hidden (such as the hands and face, according to some olama’a). Hijab is part of the woman’s adornment and, therefore, should not be worn for the purpose of deliberately attracting men. The intention behind it should be the covering of the
Muslim woman’s body and keeping her self-piety and dignity. 1

Hijab should be wide enough not show the body features very clearly and subsequently attracting ill (perverted) people, with the sick (weak) hearts, to harass them. Therefore, it is senseless for a Muslim woman to cover her hair with a scarf and wear very tight clothes. In a Hadith, by Abu Hureyrah, the prophet (pbuh) said “There are two types of the inmates of Hell whom I have not seen in my time: People having flogs like the tails of oxen beating people with them, and women who would be dressed but appear
to be naked, who would be inclined to evil and make their husbands incline towards it; their hair would be like the humps of the bukht camel inclined to one side. They will not enter Paradise nor will they smell its odour, whereas its odour will be smelled from long distances. (Muslim

Sisters: hijab, besides being an order from Allah, is an identity. It is the message sent and method used to show one’s Islamic identity; just as one would carry his/her identification card or passport to identify himself/herself. Here is a real story to illustrate this point. It happened once that an American professor met two Muslim girls. The first one was without hijab and the second one had hijab. So, he shook the hand of the first one and said to the second one, “I know you are Muslim because you wear the hijab and I respect your religion and will not shake your hand,” at which point, the first girl was shocked! 1

Another real example happened with a Sudanese Muslim. As he was awaiting boarding his flight in one of Europe’s airports, a woman approached him and asked him why the Muslim women cover with
hijab and jilbab. The brother answered her with a counter question: “When you go to buy fruits, do you buy the covered ones or do you buy the uncovered ones that are exposed to flies, dust and touching by filthy hands?” The woman replied by saying: “Of course, I buy from the covered ones;” and then smiled in admiration to the Islamic logic. 1

Last but not least, a point to be taken from this is that Islam is the best thing in our lives and following it with all its rules, that might sometimes seem hard on us to do, is the greatest gift. I will leave you with the words of the second caliphate of Islam, Omar Ibn Al-Khattab (rAa’). He is the one who said: “We are a nation whom Allah honored by Islam, so however we might seek honor by any means other than which Allah has honored us, Allah, then, will certainly humiliate us.”1​